Selective laser melting (SLM) is a manufacturing technique that uses a laser to fuse metallic or non metallic powders finally creating a 3-dimensional object. The laser selectively fuses powdered material by scanning cross-sections generated from a 3-Dimensional digital description of the component (for example from a programmed computer file) on the surface of a powder bed. After each cross-section is scanned, the powder bed is lowered by one layer thickness, a new layer of material is applied on top, and the process is repeated until the component is completely manufactured.
With today's well documented SLM technology, devices or products can be repaired or material can be added onto a device or product surface. SLM usually takes place in a SLM process chamber with controlled atmosphere and with or without elevated working temperature. As SLM is a localized melting process, heat input into a component or product cannot be avoided when adding material onto a device or product surface, even if it can be controlled and limited.
In SLM process, certain materials or material combination that became part of the component during the SLM could turn out to have more or less desirable material properties. To avoid any types of undesirable material properties, the components sometimes require heat treatment or they would benefit from a consecutive post-process heat treatment. On the other side, in the case of a repair of an existing devices or products, there could be multiple elements inside these devices or products that are very much sensitive to the high temperatures. These components are affected in a negative way by heat input and especially by a post-process heat treatment of the component built on them. Often the component produced by SLM is heat treated in a separate setup or arrangement or by using a furnace in a controlled temperature environment.